To Hell and Back to Pan -- by Dalton Narine

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 To Hell and Back to Pan

by Dalton Narine

© 2019 - All Rights Reserved

A When Steel Talks Exclusive

From left, Brooklyn draftees Leroy Barnes, Dalton Narine and the late Kenneth Edwards
From left, Brooklyn draftees Leroy Barnes, Dalton Narine and the late Kenneth Edwards


Veterans Day Embraces 2 Trinis
who served in Vietnam and elsewhere

Narine:
“What are you thinking?”

They’re all gone (A thousand-yard stare wells up)

“How did it go?”  We went in and … it was an ambush. 

I held his hand.  It was sappy.  His voice sad.  “Gone, all gone.”

Jesus Christ, my first day in Nam.  I tried to console a warrior, but he walked away.  Heaven knows where to.  I wanted to help pack the body bags, but I couldn’t take it. 

It is Veterans Day in the USA, and Gerry Carter and myself relish the moment, the longing for memory of that badass Vietnam War.

Veterans Day is intended to honor and thank all military personnel who served the United States in all wars, particularly living veterans.  It is marked by parades and church services and in many places the American flag is hung at half mast.

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